I'm Not Alone
by beautiful-surreal
Summary: Michael is having a nightmare, but about what? Set solidly in movie-verse. Father/son fluff. Please REVIEW.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

**A/N:** Michael has a nightmare, about what? Please R&R. Much appreicated. Enjoy!

* * *

I sat there, stunned- looking in between Sophie clutching an empty pail and breathing heavily- and Grandma Witch, soaked to the bone and holding a small, blue Calcifur, who had been practically put out by the water. I knew Sophie had reacted instinctively. Calcifur was a fire demon, and when Grandma Witch realized that that Calcifur held Howl's heart, she picked him up, not seeming to realize that fires burn, and thus started to burn alive. I could tell Calcifur had no control over himself when Howl's heart was threatened, and Sophie had tried to rescue Grandma Witch and pry Calcifur out of her hands at the same time- however Grandma Witch wouldn't let go, and Sophie was being burned, so she did the only other thing she could think of. Throw a pail of water at the fire to stop Grandma Witch burning. There was a heartbeat of stunned silence.

**CRACK.** What was left of the castle started breaking, and we all yelped in surprise, and ice-cold fear ran through me when I realized that Sophie was on the other side- the side that was falling. My eyes widened and my chest constricted painfully as my memories of Sophie seemed to flash before my eyes. _Sophie as an old lady sitting in a chair, asleep. Sophie on her cleaning rampage. Sophie blowing off Howl's green-slime mood as a temper tantrum and heaving him up the stairs. Sophie smiling down at me like a loving mother, her young face shining through the old. Sophie…Sophie…Sophie…_ **CRACK.** I gasped, and crawled over to Sophie's side of the room as fast as I could as she fell away with the rest of the room, my eyes wide in terror, watching her surprised face as she didn't even scream.

"SOPHIE!!!" I yelled, starting to cry. I watched in horror as her half of the castle smashed against the rocks, her broken body falling off the side of the cliff- her lifeless eyes seeming to stare straight back at me. "**SOPHIE!!!**" Sophie was dead, the last mother-figure I had left, and feeling all my strength leave me, I slumped against the wooden platform, sobbing hysterically. "Sophie… Sophie…" I sobbed, the darkness of my unconsciousness pressing in around me. Very soon this dream- this nightmare would repeat, and it only made me cry harder. Every time I did something wrong and Sophie was even slightly disappointed with me, I would feel immeasurably guilty, and I would re-live this dream over and over again in the night. I only felt the most painful emotions in this dream, always feeling so very guilty as I watched Sophie's body break on the mountainside- knowing that I always failed to save her. "Sophie… Sophie…"

It started again, this terrible dream, but this time, halfway through; Howl appeared. He didn't seem to be a part of anything, just standing there, watching, looking increasingly horrified as the dream progressed. Then the darkness came again, and I was sobbing shamelessly with my face pressed to the floor, the sobs shaking my body violently. "Sophie…" I murmured brokenly, and Howl stepped forward, concern written in every movement he made as he kneeled by my side. "Sophie…"

"Michael." Howl put a hand on my back, and I looked tearfully up at him- his eyes a concerned father's eyes, even though he wasn't really my father. "This is what you're seeing every time you have a bad dream?" He asked, frowning sadly, looking at me, and I nodded wretchedly before Howl sighed and pulled me up onto his lap. "Michael." He sighed sadly. I could tell that he was feeling the effects of the pain of the dream now too. "Sophie didn't die-"

"-But I couldn't save her!" I interrupted, my voice heavy with sobs. "She's like my mother, and I couldn't save her! She's like my second mother, and I can't stand-" I choked on my tears and swallowed, leaning into Howl like he was the last thing I had. Which in my dream- he was. I breathed in shakily. "-losing her again…" I continued more quietly. Howl sighed and held onto me, letting me cry it out against his shoulder. He made a very good father-figure to me, and I cherished him just like I cherished Sophie. Once my sobs died down, he started again.

"You did all you could Michael. There's no reason to feel guilty for something you couldn't prevent. It's not your fault, and Sophie is very much alive." He said, and I sighed quietly, leaning against him. I nodded sadly, but the tension in my chest didn't release.

"I just feel like I failed her." I said, and Howl's arms tightened around me. "What good am I if I can't keep her safe?" I asked sadly and Howl's arms stiffened, but I hardly noticed until they relaxed with Howl's sigh. He shook me gently, and I looked up to see his sad smile.

"You know what Michael?" He asked me and I blinked.

"What?"

"I feel exactly the same way." I straightened up my back and looked at him incredulously. He smiled and shook his head slightly. "I do. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't save her. You're not alone in that Michael. You're not alone." All my tension fell away with those three words. _I'm not alone._ I thought. _I'm not alone._

Howl vanished from beside me and I was on my feet as the dream replayed, and I kept my eyes on Sophie. I wasn't afraid. _I'm not alone._ The castle started cracking in half and I ran over to Sophie and grabbed onto her wrist as her half of the castle fell away, nearly pulling me along with her if I hadn't braced myself for the sudden weight. _I'm not alone._ A pair of strong hands joined mine, and I looked up to see Howl smiling down at me. I couldn't help but grin back up at him.

_I'm not alone._

* * *

Howl blinked as he pulled away from Michael's nightmare, and put his hand against the wall to steady himself for a moment as he looked down at Michael's quietly sleeping form, the covers and blankets twisted all around him from when he had been tossing and turning in the throes of his nightmare. He sighed and with a gentle sweep of his hand, Michael was sleeping under straightened, untangled sheets once more.

There were light footsteps behind him and then a solid presence at Howl's back as Sophie slipped her arms around his middle, Howl placing his hand on hers where her hands met in front of his stomach. _She is just so soft…_

"Morgan is sound asleep." Sophie practically purred against Howl's back, causing him to smile. "How's Michael?" she asked, and Howl thought for a moment before turning around to face her and taking her up in his arms and carrying her out of the room.

"He is doing just fine." He said as he shut the door behind him. On the other side of the door, Michael smiled in his sleep. He wasn't alone.


End file.
